Sectional brick-mold



(No Model.)

J. M. ERV'IN. SEGTIONAL BRICK MOLD.

Patented Dec. 22, 1896.

7 in such manner that the boundary-plates of d UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

JAMES M. ERVIN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SECTIONAL BRICK-MOLD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,455, dated December22, 1896.

A li ation fil d March 18, 1895. Renewed April 23,1896. Serial No.588,832. (No model.)

Improvements in Sectional Brick-Molds; and t I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in sectional molds especiallysuitable for use in brick-presses.

One object of my invention is to provide means for holding in themoldframe the plates which bound the several compartments anycompartment may be removed Without disturbing the boundary-plates of anyother compartment.

' Another object of the invention is to pro vide such a construction ofthe plates which define the separate compartments that after they areremoved and the wearing-surfaces are dressed down from time to time saidplates may be easily and quickly restored to their original thicknesses,whereby when they are replaced in the mold-frame the compartment whichthey define will be of the exact size desired.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of partshereinafter described, and pointed out definitely in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a mold having fourcompartments, two for plain and two for ornamental bricks. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal vertical section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. dis a perspective view of a key usedfor holding the walls together; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspectiveview of the rear side of one of the compound plates forming a side wallof one of the compartments, aportion of the soft-metal part of saidplate being broken away for the purpose, showing the construction ofcertain parts be tween the hard and soft metal.

The mold-frame A is rectangular and may be made of any size, dependin guponthe number of mold-compartments desired. The mold shownin thedrawings contains four compartments, which may be shaped to formornamental bricks, as are the two end compartments, or to formordinaryrect'angular bricks, as are the two intermediate compartments.The frame consists of two parallel side members a a and two parallel endmembers a a, which may be made integral with one another, as shown, orin separate pieces suitably secured together.

The separate compartments are bounded by plates 13 and O, secured withinthe frame in the manner presently to be described. The working faces ofsaid plates are preferably made of chilled iron, but they may be made ofhard steel or any other hard metal sufficiently durable for the purpose.

The end plates B lie against the side members of the frame, againstwhich they are held by means of the screws b,which pass through holes inthe side members and screw into the back side of the said end plates.The length of said end plates must be exactly equal to the width of thecompartment which they in part bound, and their thickness must be suchthat when they are held against the side members of the frame thedistance between their working faces will be exactly equal to the lengthof the brick to be formed.

The-side plates 0 O are equal in length to the distance between theside-frame members a a, between which they fit snugly, and the ends oftheir working faces abut against the ends of the end plates B B. Whenassembled in the described manner and suitably held in place, it isclear that the distance between the working faoes of the plates 0 G willbe exactly equal to the length of the end plates, and that this will betrue however .much the working faces of said side plates may be dressedaway.

In order to hold the end plates'and side plates of any compartment frommovement in the frame, I provide two movable keys D D, which are setinto grooves a in opposite faces of the side-frame members. The groovesc in whichsaid keys lie are deep enough to permit the keys to slideback, so as to lie wholly in said grooves. On the outer, side of eachkey is a stem d, which projects through a hole a in the side member a,and the outer end of said hole is enlarged, so as to permit the entry ofa tool by which said stem maybe grasped and drawn outward, therebywithdrawing the key into the groove (0 The outer end of the stem ispreferably threaded, whereby a threaded tool may engage with it. In therear side of each end plate B and in the adjacent ends of the sideplates 0 O are formed the grooves b and 0, into which one of the tonguesenters when it is moved inward. lVhen said tongues are engaging in saidgrooves, the movement of the plates 13 and O in the frame is prevented.

E represents a bar adapted to be secured to the outside of the sidemembers a by means of the screws Z), which pass through holes near itsend. \Vhen so secured, this bar lies across the adjacent hole a andagainst the end of the stem d, whereby the tongue D is held partly inthe grooves 12 and c. This movable tongue holds the plates securely inthe frame, but permits the removal of the plates of any one compartmentwithout disturbing any of the others and without separating the frame.

F F represent bolts which pass through both side members between theside plates of adjacent compartments lying in the grooves c o therein.These bolts serve as tierods to prevent the spreading of the sidemembers of the mold frame.

If desired, one end plate may be made integral with a side plate, asshown in the left end compartment shown in Fig. 1, and when said platesare formed to make ornamental bricks it is sometimes preferable to somake them; but the movable tongues may be employed to secure them inplace when they are so made.

In order that any compartment may be of the same size at all times, evenafter the working faces have been dressed down, it is desirable to soconstruct the plates that they can easily and accurately be restored totheir original thickness, and to this end I construct said plates in thefollowing manner: Take one of the plates 0, for example. It is made oftwo parts, namely, a front plate 0 which is made of chilled iron orother hard metal, and a back plate 0 made of softer metal, which iseasily worked, as, for example, ordinary east-iron. made in one piece orin two or three sections, as desired, which latter construction is shownin Fig. 5. These plates 0 and 0 may be secured together by screws G,passing through countersunk holes in the back plate and screwing intothe front plate. Inasmuch as the front plate must be made of very hardmetal the cutting of the threads therein would be a difficult andexpensive operation, and to avoid the necessity of such operation I formthe front plates 0 011 their rear sides with holes 0, adapted to receivethe nuts g,which nuts are held in place by lead or other metal, which ispoured in a molten state into said holes around the nuts and allowed toharden. If the holes 0 are circular, the side grooves 0 may be formed,into which the molten metal This back plate may be will run, and therebyprevent the revolution of said nuts.

After the working face of any plate has been dressed down (or before, ifdesired) the back plate 0 is removed and a shim, com posed of paper,metal, or any other suitable material slightly thicker than the part ofthe plate 0 which is removed in the dressing operation, is placedbetween the front and back plates, whereupon said plates are againsecured together. The compound plate is then put in a suitable machineand the rear side of the back plate is dressed off until the compoundplate is of the original thickness. The chief advantage of thisconstruction and method of restoring the plates to their properthickness is that it is accurate. The work can be done quickly and to agage.

There is this distinct advantage in having the side plates of the samethickness at all times'viz., it is not necessary to fill in the spacebetween the contiguous plates with lead or any of the other substancescommonly used.

\Vhile the movable keys described would be useful in molds having platesconstructed differently than those shown and described, nevertheless thedescribed plates do facilitate the end particularly sought to beattained by the employment of said keys, to wit, the quick and easyremoval for any purpose of the boundary-plates of any compartmentwithout disturbing any of the other plates.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a mold for bricks andother articles, in combination, a mold-frame having horizontal groovesin two opposite members, a plate lying against each grooved frame memberand having a corresponding groove in its rear side, two plates extendingbetween said frame members, abutting the ends of the plates first namedand having corresponding grooves in their ends, and movable keys adaptedto enter said grooves, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a mold for bricks and other articles, in combination, amold-frame. having horizontal grooves in two opposite members, acorrespondingly-grooved plate lying against each of said grooved framemembers, and laterally-movable keys adapted to lie either wholly in thegrooves in the frame members, or partly in said grooves and partly inthe grooves in the plates which lie against said members, and means forholding said keys in the position last named, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

3. I11 a mold for bricks and other articles, in combination, amold-frame having horizontal grooves in two opposite members, acorrespondingly-grooved plate lying against each grooved frame member,two plates extending between the two grooved frame members abutting theends of the first-named plates and having corresponding grooves in theirends, laterally-movable keys adapted to ICC lie wholly in the grooves inthe frame members, or partly in said grooves and partly in thecorresponding grooves in the plates, and mechanism for holding said keysin the lastnamed position, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

4. In a mold for bricks and other articles, in combination, a mold-framehaving horizontal grooves in two opposite members, acorrespondingly-grooved plate lying against each grooved frame member,two plates extending between the grooved frame members, abutting theends of the first-named plates and having corresponding grooves in theirends, laterally-movable keys adapted to lie wholly in the grooves in theframe members, or partly in said grooves and partly in the correspondinggrooves in the plates, a stem to each key which extends through a holein the frame member, and two bars removably secured to the outer sidesof said frame members over the ends of said stems, substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

5. In a mold for bricks and other articles, in combination, a mold-framehaving a space adapt-ed to receive the plates hereinafter mentioned,independent side and end compartment-plates adapted to be removablysecured within said space, each plate being composedof a hard-metalfront plate, a softermetal back plate, and mechanism for separablyconnecting them, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a mold for bricks and other articles, in combination, a mold-framehaving a rectan gular compartment Within which the 00111-partment-plates may be secured, two inde-- pendent compartment-plates C0 equal in length to one dimension of the said compartment and adaptedto lie against opposite walls thereof, two independent compartmentplatesB Bequal in length to the desired distance between the working faces ofsaid plates 0 0, means for securing said plates within the mold-framewith the plates 0 C lying against the ends of the plates B B, each ofthe independent plates B and 0 being com-

